Regional transit planners are mapping out new light rail lines in spots that were inconceivable a few years ago, as they grapple with how urban Arizona takes shape in the coming 50 years.
Early studies show that reasonable demand will exist for light rail to succeed on 44th Street, Camelback Road, south Central Avenue, Bell Road and other routes not previously planned, allowing a web to be built that is far more expansive than what is currently envisioned.
Officials at the Maricopa Association of Governments, Arizona Department of Transportation and Metro point out these conceptual routes are not intended to replace the voter-approved plan for 57 miles of track. However, early findings show that the Phoenix region has a historic opportunity to rethink light rail’s role – and maybe change some original routes.
Pushing the new ideas are changes in national policies, demographic trends and a deepening awareness of the causes and effects of the Great Recession. The federal government plans to ease funding for urban mass-transit projects, and Valley cities are adjusting their plans to cash in.
Whatever happens will be decades away, and there is no budget identified to build it. But transit and other leaders say the country is at a pivotal moment that could shape the future of cities like Phoenix. The economy has a way of changing minds
-courtesy of the Arizona Republic April 15, 2010